Staples freshman Gillian Birk firing to the plate in the second inning on Friday, April 25 in an FCIAC softball game at Fairfield Warde. Birk threw a no-hitter for seven innings but the host Mustangs won 1-0 on a hit by Sarah Cotto in the eighth inning.

Photo: Reid L. Walmark

Staples freshman Gillian Birk firing to the plate in the second...

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Fairfield Warde sophomore pitcher Gabriella Natoli gave up four hits on Friday, April 25 in the Mustangs' 1-0 win over Staples in an FCIAC softball game in Fairfield.

Photo: Reid L. Walmark

Fairfield Warde sophomore pitcher Gabriella Natoli gave up four...

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Fairfield Warde sophomore left fielder Sarah Cotto lining out to second base in the second inning on Friday, April 25. Warde beat Staples 1-0 in an FCIAC softball game in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Cotto.

Photo: Reid L. Walmark

Fairfield Warde sophomore left fielder Sarah Cotto lining out to...

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Staples Katherine Friend hitting into a fielder's choice in the fourth inning of the Wreckers' 1-0 loss at Fairfield Warde in an FCIAC softball game on Friday, April 25.

Photo: Reid L. Walmark

Staples Katherine Friend hitting into a fielder's choice in the...

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Fairfield Warde senior captain and shortstop Michelle Treglia smacking a line drive caught by the Staples' center fielder on Friday, April 25 in an FCIAC softball game in Fairfield. Warde won 1-0. Treglia broke up a no-hitter by the Wreckers' Gillian Birk and scored in the eighth inning.

Photo: Reid L. Walmark

Fairfield Warde senior captain and shortstop Michelle Treglia...

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Staples sophomore right fielder Colby Siegel grounding out to Warde pitcher Gabriella Natoli on Friday, April 25 in an FCIAC softball game at Fairfield Warde. The Mustangs won 1-0 in the eighth inning.

Photo: Reid L. Walmark

Staples sophomore right fielder Colby Siegel grounding out to Warde...

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Fairfield Warde freshman first baseman Shannon McCartney grounds out in the third inning on Friday, April 25 in the Mustangs' 1-0 home win over Staples in an FCIAC softball game.

Freshman Gillian Birk, who had started most of Staples' games this season, didn't allow Fairfield Warde any hits through seven innings Friday in an FCIAC softball game in Fairfield. But Birk's Mustangs' counterpart, Gabriella Natoli, was nearly as effective as Birk. Warde's sophomore pitcher had shut out the Wreckers on four hits.

So it was scoreless as extra innings began.

Natoli retired Staples 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth. Then the Mustangs strung together three straight hits -- after Birk had gotten the first Warde batter -- with Sarah Cotto's line-drive single into center field driving in Michelle Treglia, who had broken up the no-hitter two at-bats prior. Warde won 1-0 to improve to 5-4 overall and 3-4 in the conference. Staples' records dropped to 4-4 and 3-4 in the FCIAC.

"If we get one hit to go our way, it's the difference in the game," said Staples coach Sara Holland, whose club put runners in scoring position three times against Natoli but failed to capitalize.

"They just got the one hit before we did."

Natoli gave up four hits -- three to sophomore Emily Lustbader -- and one walk and struck out one Wrecker, as the Mustangs played error-free behind her. Birk gave up singles to Treglia, Brianna West and Cotto -- all three into center field -- and four walks. She struck out three Mustangs. Staples made three errors, but none in a pivotal spot.

Even without the benefits of any hits, Warde had runners on base every inning, four times getting runners into scoring position before Birk stranded them. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Treglia reached third, moving up on a passed ball after her bunt was mishandled by the Wreckers and she got to second base on the play.

Then Birk bore down again and the defense tightened, as they had before.

"Our hitters made one adjustment when we into extra innings," Warde coach Gary Quiricone said. "And that was to be more patient for the pitch you can hit. We weren't hitting well. When we hit it hard, we hit it at them."

Once the no-hitter was gone, he said, there was a difference. "Confidence builds when there's one hit after another," Quiricone said.

Cotto, a sophomore, rated a grand slam that gave her team the lead last year during a Warde victory as the only other hit in her career approaching the magnitude of the game-winner against Staples. "I believe that we definitely could have hit her better than we did," Cotto said. "Brianna and I had big hits."

Cotto was impressed with Birk's location and her ability to throw strikes to the outside and inside parts of the plate.

Holland termed Birk's performance as wonderful.

"She was real solid. She was hitting her spots," Holland said. "Gillian showed excellent poise on the mound in pressure situations."

Birk, whose first career no-hitter came for a travel team in the fall, was humble in assessing her performance. "I thought I was OK," said Birk, who began pitching in fourth grade. "I need to work on my off-speed pitches. My (high) fastball was working well, and my defense was really good behind me."